POSTED BY Belinda (The Copy Detective) - 09 May 2012 - 5 Comments
Google has launched its latest algorithm change, affecting how online content is ranked by Google. It’s called Penguin and it will not only have an impact on the ranking results, but also it will affect how SEO copywriters go about their business. Or will it?
This post will take you through the changes and how the process of SEO copywriting might be affected.
POSTED BY Belinda (The Copy Detective) - 25 Apr 2012 - 4 Comments
Sometimes a blank page can be cruel. A flashing cursor staring back at you, mocking you with its readiness to execute your next brilliant idea….
When you work in a creative industry as a copywriter or graphic designer, for example, your ideas are your bread and butter. You have to come up with the goods every day and while some ideas come quickly with a flash of inspiration, many are much harder to produce. This is especially the case when you’ve got a lot of work on.
There comes a time when we all feel the dull edge of creative burnout. That feeling when your brain feels overworked and wrung out. It might be after a day of pretty intense work or in the middle of a particularly big project. You feel like you just can’t go on, but you must.
Prevention is the best cure and I think the best way to overcome creative burnout is avoid it. Easier said than done, I know, but these tips will help you keep your creative juices flowing.
POSTED BY Belinda (The Copy Detective) - 28 Mar 2012 - No Comments
You will have read the stories of the life of a freelance copywriter. Working from the beach in Mexico, or spending a few hours in a favourite café to soak up the flavours and sounds while you create amazing copy for your clients. You aren’t tied to an office, which means you can work anywhere. Right?
When Copywrite Matters first opened its virtual doors, it was from my newly decorated home office. I was happy to ditch my 2-hour daily commute but little did I realise that my business still needed to be mobile. The first lesson came with an all-day power outage and no access to my server. I realised then that I had simply tied Copywrite Matters, and therefore myself, to another office!
This post will take you through how you can make your business mobile so you can work anywhere (even if you don’t).
POSTED BY Belinda (The Copy Detective) - 21 Mar 2012 - 10 Comments
Newsletters are a fantastic way to keep your business at the top of the mind of your prospects and customers. Copywrite Matters has a monthly newsletter – Copy & Co. News – and we write a few for clients. With so many businesses publishing blogs and newsletters, how do you make yours stand out?
If your subscriber count has stagnated, you might be making one of these (very fixable) newsletter mistakes.
POSTED BY Belinda (The Copy Detective) - 07 Mar 2012 - 6 Comments
SEO copywriting can be a tricky line to walk. You want to be found by search engines so you need to use those keywords and phrases to maximum effect. But you don’t want your SEO to come at the price of customer engagement. After all, Google isn’t handing any cash over!
Your SEO efforts still need to entice and intrigue online customers and, most importantly, they need to convert. When you’re writing meta tags, you’ve got to do all that in 160 characters or fewer.
This post will show you how to write meta tags that boost your SEO and help you convert searchers to prospective customers.
POSTED BY Belinda (The Copy Detective) - 29 Feb 2012 - 10 Comments
How long should my copywriting be? Is long copy better than short copy? Have you seen my glasses? These are questions I’m asked quite often and the truth of the matter is… It depends. Yes and no. And they’re on your head.
The long copy vs short copy debate has been going on since, well, since advertising masters wrote copy about things we never thought we needed. There is a copywriting mantra: “The more you tell, the more you sell.”
I’m putting myself out there when I say that I don’t think this lovely little rhyme applies in every case. Each copywriting style offers pretty compelling benefits and each is useful in different scenarios. So the best one is the one that works.
This post will take you through long copy and short copy and why you might choose one over the other.
POSTED BY Belinda (The Copy Detective) - 22 Feb 2012 - 6 Comments
10-dollar words are the fancy words that you think make you look smart. You hope that by including a longer version of a rather simple concept you will make people go: “Oooh, sounds like he really knows his stuff!”
In reality, 10-dollar words make your copywriting suck.
POSTED BY Belinda (The Copy Detective) - 01 Feb 2012 - 17 Comments
Proofreading is tough! It takes time, patience and (I believe) a specific set of skills but your credibility is compromised every time an error sneaks past you. This week’s blog post is by professional proofreader, editor and copywriter Trish Arnott of Spell-Bound Services.
It’s well worth your while to employ a proofreader; it’s hard to pick up errors in your own work. However, if you choose to proofread your copy yourself, then here is a systematic way to go about it.
POSTED BY Belinda (The Copy Detective) - 25 Jan 2012 - 13 Comments
Most of my copywriting work is done remotely. I don’t meet my clients or have the luxury of time to hang out and get to know the soul of their business. But that’s exactly what I need to do to create mind-blowing copywriting for their website, blog or brochure.
So how do I dig deep to produce the copywriting gold? A detailed copywriting brief.
POSTED BY Belinda (The Copy Detective) - 18 Jan 2012 - No Comments
I had an idea. I wrote it down. It’s just a small flame now but, with your help, that flame will ignite something big…
The following is an excerpt from my finalist submission in Firepole Marketing’s “Marketing That Works” Ideas Contest.
